Reviewed by Geno McGahee
I love slasher movies, especially when they are done right…especially when they involve transvestites, and in the 2000 film “FLASHBACK,” this is what we are dealing with.
There is a couple on a train and they are getting frisky. They go through a tunnel. When the darkness passes, the boyfriend is dead and the girl is on the train with the transvestite killer. There is just something special about a guy in women’s clothing, killing people. It is especially nice when the guy is so guy-ish that he could never ever pass for a woman, but elects to dress that way anyway. This is the case here with the killer.
As a young child, Jeanette (Valerie Niehaus) lost her parents to the serial killer and somehow survived. She was locked away in a mental asylum for years with some very strange patients. They don’t separate them. They lock up the extremely crazy with those that are just a little off. Jeanette doesn’t belong there and her psychologist Dr. Martin (Erich Schleyer), releases her and finds her employment as a French language teacher to some teenagers.
Flashbacks to her encounter with the drag queen killer, turn into a return of the dressed slasher. The teenagers begin to get chopped up by what appears to be the same guy that terrorized Jeanette. In the meantime, Jeanette finds love with Leon (Xaver Hutter), but he isn’t as nice as he first appears and she finds that out.
After a prank on Jeanette, Dr. Martin quickly travels down, fearing that his patient may go over the deep end after being the butt of a joke. When he makes it down, all sorts of bad things happen and a lot of things are revealed.
Overall, FLASHBACK is a very good slasher film. It is written very well and brings a fun factor with some memorable characters. If you love transvestites, you’ll love this. If you love transvestite killers, you will adore this. If you are a transvestite…you may be inspired to be a better one. Who knows? The only thing that can come from a movie like this is good, and I highly recommend it.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7.5/10. Dressed to Kill.
